A/N: You must hate me. I don't blame you. I am currently dealing with national exams at the end of the year, trauma, psychiatrist appointments and severe anxiety. Today after MANY months I finally found time to finish this chapter that I have been sitting on for so long. So here it is. I really hope you all get to enjoy this and be able to forgive me. I will do my best to make sure it doesn't take me that kind to write a chapter again. Now on to the chapter, enjoy!

It's all my fault.

That was her first thought when she held in her hands Olivia's phone, staring at the picture of her and her little sister holding hands, smiling at the camera.

"Say cheese."Their mother said cheerfully, one eye closed to make sure she gets the perfect shot of her little girls.

"Cheese!" Both girls yelled happily, giggling over the silliness of everything.

It was still such a vivid memory. It was a memory that she had held with such zeal. It was one of the very few times that she remembers her and Kim being genuinely happy. She couldn't remember what exactly had taken place that lead to that picture being taken, she was too young to remember it now, but she knew in her heart that the happiness she felt was real.

Barba asked from the judge, due to rather expedicial circumstances the trial would continue tomorrow since his star witness was not in a place to testify at that moment. Judge Barth gave her condolences and ruled that the trial would indeed continue the next day in hopes that Ms. Rollins would have taken some time to herself to process things.

But one day of course wasn't enough.

Only one day to grieve, morn her sister, the most important person in her life wasn't enough. The only person in her life who she had cared for and, yet, let down multiple times. No, one day was definitely not enough. But one week or one year didn't seem enough either. So she gladly accepted the judge's generous offer and walked out of the courtroom with Olivia. Their destination?

The morgue.

You know how sometimes time passes so fast, that your life is so busy and exhausting that there are time gaps in your mind? One moment you are in the middle of a busy Manhattan, men and women in suits walking by you, unaware of the amount of weight and pain you are caring on your shoulders. And the next you are inside a stilled car, a gentle hand touching your back with kindness and you flinch, because where are you and when did you get there?

Because that's exactly how Amanda felt right then and there. Like time had flown by without her even realizing it.

"I am sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." A woman's velvety voice, low and soft, came from next to her. She turned her head only to see a concerned and hurt (?) Olivia looking right into her eyes. "We are here." She said while turning off the car's engine.

Here. The morgue.

She nodded, got out of the car without saying a word, swallowed her tears and desperately tried to walk straight because the more energy she used to stop her body from shaking the more her body refused to obey.

She wanted to act tough, put together, but she was anything but. So when an arm came around her waist, practically caring her through the doors of the morgue, she was beyond grateful.

"Remember, Amanda, you can take all the time you need. Melinda will only lift the sheet when we ask her and the minute you feel like it's getting too much she will cover the-" No, not the body. She is more than just a body. "her again. Okay?"

They were now standing in front of a window, a black African-American woman in the other room over a table that hosted the body of the person who her sister used to be.

"Olivia if-" She took a deep breath before continuing forcing the tears to stay at bay, not fall. "If it's her, I don't know if I'll make it."

"Let's take it one step at a time, Amanda, hm?" She squeezed the blonde's shoulder lightly and tried to give her a sympathetic smile.

She glanced towards Melinda through the window and then her eyes went back on Amanda. It was small, barely visible, but she caught the small nod the other woman gave her. She gave Melinda the signal and slowly the medical examiner lifted the sheet, revealing a pale face, deprived of all color lips and a neck covered by a large handprint.

"It's her. It's Kim. It may has been a few years but yeah, that's my little sister." She averted her eyes from the lifeless body and fell in Olivia's arms, violently crying and holding on the other woman's shirt for dear life.

Their Jane Doe now had a name, it was Kim Rollins and for the first time in her life Olivia wished she hadn't been right. For once she wanted her hunch to be wrong, off base, invalid, one hundred percent insane. But it wasn't.

Olivia was great at her work, her instinct about the current case was one of the many evidence. And at that moment, her brilliance could come in handy.

"I am so sorry, Amanda." But Amanda's sobs were too loud for her listen to the brunette's heartfelt apology.

What was she apologizing for? The system that didn't look hard enough for Kim Rollins? The system that didn't protect Amanda or her sister? A system that she was a part of and yet she, too, had stayed inactive?

Oh how much she hated this city sometimes.

Actually, oh, how much she hated the world sometimes.

"Do you think you are ready to talk, Amanda?" She asked after sitting down on the couch next to the blonde in the interview room.

All Amanda had asked for was for some warm tea, something to keep her hands occupied with and something to remind her that there was still hope out there. Because what better to give you hope that a cup of steaming hot tea in the middle of winter.

"She loved tea." Her voice came out so small and fragile as she took the first sip of the warm liquid. "Chamomile. When she was little and had a nightmare she would come into my room, climb on the bed, her teddy bear Kyle in one hand and she would tap me on the shoulder. 'Manda, tea'." She mimicked her sister's voice from when she was no more than six years old. "That's what she'd say and I would take her hand and walk with her down at the kitchen to make her some tea."

It was the first words Amanda had uttered after coming back from the morgue. They had nothing to do with the case, they were in no way helpful but it was a place to start. Victims themselves or their families in this particular case, would always start by something completely random in an attempt to just... start.

"Sounds like a really sweet child." The sergeant commented, her eyes never leaving Amanda even though her blue eyes refused to look back at her.

"She was, so sweet. Until one day she wasn't." She shrugged and leaned forward to leave the cup on the wooden table in front of the couch.

"When did things take a turn?"

And so Amanda started talking, not leaving out one single detail about the night that everything for Kim took the slippery slope.

"I am telling you Manda, one day you are gonna be Broadway's shiniest star. I've got a good feelin' 'bout this sister." A young Kim, fresh out of rehab, said as she hugged her sister who was still in her gown having come off the stage just a few minutes ago.

Amanda couldn't help but laugh at that statement. Yes, she was a Juilliard graduate that held great potential as she had been told multiple times but the people who actually make it on Broadway and further than that are very few. She may be great but she didn't think she was that kind of great.

"Thank you, Kimmy." She kissed her sister's cheek and moved towards her mother.

"Mother." She sighed. She didn't lean in for a hug, Beth Anne Rollins was clearly there after Kim complained the hardest she ever had to get her to agree on coming for the ceremony.

With a tight smile on her lips Beth extended her hand. It was better than nothing so Amanda accepted the handshake and forced herself to smile and be appreciative that she even flied to New York for her. For Kim.

"You need to get out of this gown, hon. That blue color makes you look pale." And just like that she started walking towards the exit of the building, not sparing on more second to look at her daughter that had just accomplished something that most people could only dream of.

"Don't mind her, you know how she can be." Kim jumped to justify her mother's inexcusable actions when she saw the tears that were ready to spill from Amanda's eyes.

"It's fine, love. Let's just-" she cleared her throat and butted her lashes to push back the tears. "Let's go backstage real quick so I can grab my stuff and then we can go from my apartment to celebrate. How about that?"

And that's exactly what they did. Kim stayed outside the main backstage area where students undressed, gathered their stuff, took a few last minute photos with their friends before they part ways. Rumor has it that many of them had already signed contracts for small roles in movies, on and off Broadway shows even TV parts.

She still hadn't heard back after her audition for the role of Roxie Hart. It was a good part and she had a good feeling about it but every day that passed by and her phone remained silent her hopes kept lessening.

She was so constantly worried, her mind running a mile a minute that she failed to notice that a guy was flirting with her sister as she walked out of the 'dressing room'. She saw her laughing as a handsome guy, who she had never seen before, walked away from her.

"Who was he? He is not a student that's for sure."

"Oh he's no one Manda. The guy just bumped into me, nothin' more. Stop worryin' so much." She gently punched her shoulder before hugging her sister's arm and leading her towards the exit.

And Kim was right; she really should stop worrying so much. What good would it do anyway?

The night had been long. Amanda took Kim to see "New York by night" as her sister had called their little walk around the city, staring at the tall buildings, the bright city lights which Amanda had been so accustomed to by then. But right then and there, seeing how her sister's eyes glimmered while admiring the beauty of their surroundings, it reminded her a lot of when she first came here and how magical everything seemed.

But then she'd turn on the TV and watch the news, or she'd walk home and people would whistle at her, call her names. Drunk people passed out on the sidewalk, homeless people slowly dying due to the unbelievable cold. And suddenly the city would lose its beauty and it looked more like this big monster that swallowed you whole. And she considered herself lucky that she still was alive and well all things considered.

"Do you think that maybe I could stay here? Like, with you in the city? You have a spare bedroom, right?" Amanda was startled by the questions.

Kimmy had already gotten herself in so much trouble back in Loganville. The life here would eat her alive, with her impulsive and reckless behavior she wouldn't manage to stay clean for too long.

"Look, Kim, I-"

"Whenever you start a sentence with 'look, Kim' we always end up fighting." The young blonde interrupted. "You are about to say I can't do it. That with my past it's gonna be hard for me, but I've changed, Mandy."

Amanda started searching for her keys, trying really hard not to look her sister in the eyes knowing very well that those green little fairies were already working so hard to get her attention and her approval.

"Kim, I believe you. But it's still a big risk. Plus I don't have that much money, yet. Who's gonna take care of ya, mama? She's gonna flip when she hears you wanna stay with me." She put the key and unlocked the building's entrance, keeping the door open for her sister to enter. "Plus, Imma be the one she's gonna blame. She'll say I'm trynna take ya away from her."

Sighing, Kim started walking towards the stairs her feet hitting the ground with a little more force than necessary.

This girl. Always trynna prove a point.

"Kim, I want you here more than anything." Closing the door behind her she followed her sister, climbing the stairs to her apartment, hoping that the conversation will be over before they reach their floor and have to face Beth Anne. "Do you even know how lonely it gets here sometimes? Don't have many friends, Juilliard is a very competitive school."

"Then why not let me here?"

"Because!" She said a little louder than she would have liked. "It's not gonna be easy for me to look after you. I can barely take care of myself, I have a career to start now, I won't be home a lot."

The tears shimmering in Kim's eyes was a sign, out of many frankly, that this conversation would indeed not end well.

"Look, just don't mention anything in front of mama, okay? She's gonna be real pissed and we are supposed to be havin' fun tonight. It's my graduation after all."

She grabbed Kim's arm and squeezed it, flashing her the brightest smile she had, hoping that her dimples would be persuasive enough. For a moment Kim seemed to back off because she went with the flow and didn't argue any further. And Amanda felt blessed that she didn't.

"I thought I dodged a bullet that night. That she'd actually get the idea out of her head. But I was fooled." She shook her head and with the tissue Olivia handed her while she was narrating everything what had taken place all those years ago, she whipped her nose clean.

"What happened? How were you fooled, honey?" During this entire time Olivia has kept quiet, she let Amanda take the lead, do things in her own pace. It was heartbreaking watching a person whose company she had come to enjoy so much suffering in such a way, feeling so much pain.

"We went to sleep, no more questions about the big city. I actually thought that she might have forgotten about it already. Next morning when I woke up there was a note on the coffee table along with her favorite bandana."

"Love ya sis. Always have always will." Both women said in unison and Amanda's shocked expression made Liv realize that she had actually said the words out loud.

"Note slipped from your backpack. Put it back in, didn't snoop around or any-"

"It's fine, Liv." Amanda interrupted not really needing an explanation from the brunette about anything.

"It's better no information than too much information all at once"

That's what their choreography teacher used to tell them when the kids insisted on learning the entire routine in one day. She never really understood what it meant or how it was relevant. At least not until this moment. Because right at that moment she felt like and invisible hand was wrapped around her throat, tightening its grip little by little until all the air was squeezed out of her lungs.

"Look, Liv I," She took one deep breath and grabbed her cup of tea from the coffee table in front of them to keep her hands busy. "This is just- it's a lot to take in. Just tell me what's gonna happen from now and on, what do I need to do?"

Liv was well aware that all this pressure was the last thing Amanda needed right now. She already had to deal with a traumatic experience and then go through an even more traumatic trial. Adding grief into the mix would do no good.

"Honey, I know that this is too much for you right now but, I really need you to sit down with a sketch artist, you said the guy you saw her talking to at your graduation looked a bit suspicious?"

"I mean, yeah. I had never seen him before and I noticed him talking to a kid from my dance classes, God, what was his name?" She ran her hand through her hair and puffed. "Jack... something. Something Russian, God what was it!" She hit her head gently with her palm as if that would help her remember.

"Hey, hey, stop that, it's okay. You don't have to-"

"Cazinksi! That was his name. Jack Cazinski. I remember that kid cause he had some killer pirouettes, I was always so jealous of him, that kid was a wonder."

"Are you sure, that his name was Cazinski?" When Amanda nodded her head Olivia let out a sigh of relief.

Now we are going somewhere. We have a place to start.

"You have no idea how much help this is, truly." The brunette smiled at the blonde sympathetically, bringing a hand up to cap her cheek and caress it with her thumb softly. "Look, right now we need to start an investigation, I need to inform my detectives regarding everything you told me and, trust me when I say this kills me, I won't be able to provide you with the comfort you may need."

Tears gathered in blue eyes but the blonde again shook her head, a notion that she understood where Liv was coming from and that she wasn't mad.

"But I can promise you, Amanda, that I will do anything in my power to put the people who did this to you behind bars."

Even if it's the last thing I do. She added her mind.

Amanda smiled at her. It was the least she could do after everything Liv had done for her that last few weeks.

"I will have a uni drive you where you live and put a detail at your house, make sure that you are safe." When she felt the question ready to slip from the other woman's lips she clarified. "Just to make sure that nothing happens. You are not necessarily in danger and we wanna make sure it stays that way."

Soon Amanda was escorted out of the building and Sergeant Benson gathered her team at the main area of the squad room. She clipped a photo on one of the boards and wrote with a blue marker on the top of the white surface the name Cazinski.

"Whatever happened to Kim Rollins has something to do with this man and this family." She paused fo a second and then proceeded. "We are talking about Russian Mob, they have connections, the family is known for drug dealing, smuggling maybe even trafficking."

Whispers spread around the room and Liv had to raise her voice even more to make sure she was being heard.

"We don't sleep, we don't eat, we work day and night till we find these people and we start by tracking down the only member we know," she pointed at the picture on the board. "Jack Cazinski." She received nods of understanding and took a deep a breath before she yelled. "Everyone start working. Now."

And just like that, this was now a high profile case, all hands on deck and Liv wouldn't rest until Kimberly Rollins' killer was brought to justice.

A/N: TBC